How did we select projects?
One of the key roles of Connected KC 2050 is to identify and prioritize significant future transportation projects for the region, including those that can be completed within projected revenues as well as illustrative projects that will require resources beyond what we can reasonably expect today.
MARC asks local governments, state departments of transportation, public transportation providers and other organizations to submit applications for projects that would advance the regional vision and respond to regional needs identified in the planning process to connect people to vibrant places and strong communities. Local governments were not asked to submit projects currently identified in the region’s Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). By reference, Connected KC 2050 already includes projects and funding sources identified in the TIP which offers a more specific accounting for the first four years of the plan.
From the first call in 2019, 39 agencies submitted 425 projects totaling $14.2 billion. Each application was scored according to evaluation criteria based on regional transportation goals. Projects that would maintain, operate or rehabilitate our current system were prioritized first from the financial resources identified for asset management, operations and maintenance. All projects were assessed by members of MARC planning and policy committees to determine which were high, medium or low priority. The public also provided comments.
The following table provides the total capital (i.e. construction) cost of financially constrained, and illustrative projects by system in 2019 dollars. Additionally, actual construction costs are considerably higher, because of inflation, depending on when a project is slated to be built during the course of the 30-year plan horizon. While the cost in 2019 dollars for all financially constrained projects is about $7.3 billion, with inflation the cost is nearly $11 billion.
Of the 289 financially constrained projects, 99 are to rehabilitate part of the existing transportation system and 190 are system expansion or new facilities. The plan also contains 136 illustrative projects. In total, 425 projects are included in the plan. MARC staff completed financial projections divided into the following categories: Kansas state system, Kansas local system, Missouri state system, Missouri local system and transit.
In order to prioritize these projects into financially constrained and illustrative lists, they were divided into the following categories which reflect the way transportation revenues are generated in the region:
- Kansas state system
- Kansas local system
- Missouri state system
- Missouri local system
- Transit
While our projections showed sufficient future resources to support projects in the Kansas state and local systems, they showed limited future revenues to support system expansion in the Missouri local system and in transit project categories and no available funds for system expansion in the Missouri state system. The map below shows all of the projects that were fiscally constrained; you can use the layer list to add the illustrative projects that were submitted as well.
Financially Constrained Projects
Methodology
MARC’s planning committees received a priority matrix that showed projects organized by project score and committee priority. This gave priority to projects that received a high project score and high priority evaluation from the planning/policy committees.
Learn more about the prioritization process
- Projects above the median score (74.5) and above the median committee ranking (1.51) were included in the financially constrained project listing, if sufficient financial resources were projected to support them.
- Other existing medium or low priority projects were also included in the financially constrained list if there were sufficient resources for them. This was the case for the Kansas state and local systems.
- Projects above both the median score and median committee ranking that could not be supported by projected financial resources were included in the high-priority illustrative list. The plan identifies potential new revenue sources that could be pursued to increase the region’s financial capacity in the future.
- There were not enough projected revenues to include any Missouri state system or transit expansion projects in the financially constrained project listing. In these cases, all Missouri state system projects and a number of high priority transit projects were deferred to the illustrative list.
- All other projects were included in the financially constrained project listing according to their ranking in the high/medium/low priority matrix.
In addition, a public survey was conducted to help identify relative priorities between the various project categories. This input was helpful in assessing public agreement with the assignment of priority to the various projects.
This process produced a list of projects that did not exclude any in categories that received significant public support unless due to limited financial resources. However, there are a variety of projects in categories with lower public support that are included in the financially constrained listing. Connected KC 2050 identifies a number of strategies to increase alignment with plan goals as these future projects advance towards implementation.
